It finds a band in good form, with Noddy Holder in fine voice, Dave Hill showing his under-rated prowess as a guitarist, and Jim Lea and Don Powell proving themselves a formidable rhythm section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After four years of runaway success, Slade were at something of a crossroads career-wise, however. Formed in 1966, they were now in their late 20s and wanted to be taken more seriously than merely making chart hits for teenagers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 12 tracks here are a mixed bag featuring hit singles from the glam era, new songs from the feature film In Flame<\/em>, which the band were promoting, and several album cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It kicks off with Them Kinda Monkeys Can’t Swing<\/em>, from the soundtrack to the film, which had a ’60s feel, and while it’s unmistakeably Slade, it’s an odd choice to open with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next up was The Bangin’ Man<\/em>, a hit single in 1973, full of bluesy riffs, and it was followed by the glam rock smash Gudbuy T’Jane<\/em>, which wakes the strangely muted audience from its torpor at last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Far Far Away<\/em>, the lead single from the film, is next, and although it had been a No 2 hit at the end of the previous year, it was a big departure from the rabble-rousing glam pop which had earned the band such a devoted following. I loved the song as a kid, and still do now, as it shows Slade at their melodic best.<\/p>\n\n\n Thanks For The Memory (Wham Bam Thank You Mam)<\/em> is introduced as their next single, unreleased at the time of this gig, and its B-side Raining In My Champagne<\/em> also gets an airing later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Closing out side one is recent single How Does It Feel<\/em>, a hugely under-rated song, for me, but plaintive piano-led ballads were clearly not what your average bell-bottomed Slade fan wanted to hear, as it had only reached No 15 – their lowest chart position since 1971.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another song from the film soundtrack, the blues-inflected heavy rocker Just A Little Bit<\/em>, is played next, to a fairly muted response, despite Noddy’s best efforts, though Everyday<\/em>, one of their very best songs, gets the crowd energised a little, even prompting a singalong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fourth and final Flame <\/em>song, OK Yesterday Was Yesterday<\/em>, is greeted with less enthusiasm, and the aforementioned B-side seems to do little to raise temperatures as the set enters its final stretch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We’re nearing the end now, and waiting for Slade to light the blue touchpaper, and it happens at last when they unleash the brash, hard-rocking Let The Good Times Roll<\/em>, a track from their 1972 chart-topping album Slayed?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Last, but certainly not least, the band give the fans what they want, and everybody finally goes bonkers when they wheel out Mama Weer All Crazee Now<\/em>, one of their six No 1 singles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’d imagine many a young fan left feeling slightly disappointed at the lack of hits in the set, but as a snapshot of where Slade were at in 1975 and the direction in which they were heading, this is an enjoyable enough album. 7\/10.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ALBUM REVIEW: Slade Live At the New Victoria (BMG)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10309,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,2397],"tags":[798,2191,2193,2192,2773,2190,2188],"class_list":["post-10521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-review","category-glam-rock","tag-bmg","tag-dave-hill","tag-don-powell","tag-jim-lea","tag-live-at-the-new-victoria","tag-noddy-holder","tag-slade"],"yoast_head":"\nOdd opener<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"slade\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/slade-pic-by-barry-plummer.jpg?resize=640%2C661\")
Hard-rocking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n